


The Beginnings of Domesticity

by Caedmon



Series: Nearly Human 'verse [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dancing, Domestics, F/M, Fluff, Jealous Doctor, Moving In Together, Rated T for swearing, Rating May Change, Time Lords are a bit old-fashioned sometimes, a little angst later, because I do that a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-04-23 05:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4864436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caedmon/pseuds/Caedmon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tentoo and Rose begin a truly domestic life together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Decisions and Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers:  
> I own nothing but the mistakes.  
> Kudos and comments are incredibly motivating. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave feedback. <3  
> send prompts, feedback, or just say hi! caedmonfaith.tumblr.com

The Doctor stood in front of the full-length mirror in his room, turning this way and that, checking his reflection. Jackie had threatened his life if he wore his trainers to her gala tonight, so he, of course, had put on his black converse and the white of the laces and soles showing up brightly against the stark black of his tuxedo and earning a smirk. Overall, though, he thought he looked quite dashing. He adjusted his bow tie and lapels needlessly, tugging at the cuffs one last time.

“Not bad, Doctor, not bad a’tall,” he said to himself.

A knock came at the door and he strode over to answer it, calling out as he grabbed his black jacket, “I’m ready, just have to run down and grab Ro-”

The Doctor swung open the door and his eyes met Rose’s. “Oi!” he started. “I’m supposed to come get you, not the other - oh.”

Rose beamed, smiling with her tongue between her teeth then biting her lip. “D’you like it?” she asked, giving a little twirl to let her skirt swish around her legs.

She wore a simple gown, one-shouldered in bright red that fit every curve perfectly until it flared at the bottom. Her hair was pulled into a chignon that appeared to be loosely woven and pinned with a single, gold and jeweled red rose, the rest of her jewelry kept similarly simple and gold.

He snaked an arm around her waist suddenly and pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers possessively. Rose squeaked in surprise then smiled into the kiss before pulling away, absently playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

“Like it, then?”

“You can’t wear that, Rose Tyler.”

“And why not, may I ask?” she demanded, going stiff.

“Because I may have to kill a man. I don’t know that you would want to come visit me in prison.”

She giggled and rubbed her thumb across his lips. “You smudged my makeup. There’s red on your lips.”

“Good. Leave it. Let everyone know you’re spoken for.”

“Really, Doctor, you’re being a neanderthal.”

“I am not. A neanderthal would have thrown you over his shoulder and carried you off, you know that from experience, Rose. I’ve a bit more couth than that; I like to think so, anyway.” 

“You’re stopping just shy of that.”

“I thought I was being the proper jealous boyfriend. Damn. I must work harder to learn the proper societal norms.”

She smiled as she finished wiping his lips. “There. All better.” She stepped backwards from his arms and he tried comically to hang on to her, mock whimpering at her for leaving. “Behave, Doctor.”

He sighed heavily. “If I must.” The Doctor slid on his tuxedo jacket then turned to Rose, adjusting the lapels and buttoning it. “How do I look?”

"Mum is going to kill you."

He looked down at his shoes then back up at her, grinning unrepentantly. "I had to. You know I had to do it, Rose. She left me no choice."

"She's still going to kill you." Rose was trying to school her face to look stern, but the corners of her lips were quirking upwards. 

"Nah," the Doctor pooh-poohed, buttoning the top button and shrugging to get the fit just right. "Your mum loves me now. T'was the old me she hated. She makes me tea and everything now." He ignored Rose rolling her eyes and tugged his sleeves out. "You didn't answer me, though. How do I look?"

Rose gave him an appraising look. "You'll do, I s'pose."

"I'll do? I'm wounded, Rose Tyler. Truly, I am."

She laughed and stepped forward, kissing his nose lightly then wiping the lipstick from it. “Would you do me a favor?” she asked, and there was a glimmer in her eyes that he liked very much. Oh, yes. Yes, he liked that look very much indeed.

“Your wish is my command, Rose, as always.”

“Wear the glasses. Or at least bring them.”

He grinned wolfishly at her and swiped them from the table in front of the fireplace where they rested beside the book he was currently breezing through. He slid them on and turned back to her. “How is that? Better? Am I devastatingly handsome and charming yet?”

“Smashing. I may have to kill a woman.”

“Oh I do love a good catfight.”

“Your hair is especially messy tonight.”

“Oi!” He reached up to pick at it carefully. “I took extra care to make sure it looked just right.”

Her tongue came out to the corner of her mouth. “You were at the mirror for hours, then.”

“Oi!”

Rose giggled and The Doctor grabbed his psychic paper and sonic, slipping them in the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. Then he came to Rose, presenting his arm. “Are we ready, Miss Tyler?”

“I believe we are, Doctor Noble.”

He smiled at her, and they began down the hall towards the entry where Timothy was waiting to drive them to the fundraiser.

“So…” the Doctor said almost hesitantly, “tonight’s the night we make our debut, right? As a couple, I mean. Publicly. There are going to be photographers everywhere.”

“Yep,” she said, popping the p.

“There won’t be any denying it anymore..”

Rose grinned up at him. “Haven’t exactly been denyin’ anything as it is. Just haven’t commented on the rumours.”

“But it won’t be just rumours anymore. They’ve been speculating for weeks now, ever since I've been here, really, but after tonight it’ll be Rose Tyler and Doctor John Noble, linked in the public eye.”

“Yes it will.”

The Doctor stopped and turned to her, his eyes worried. “Rose, are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure _I’m_ what you want? I've only been here a month.”

Rose stood on tiptoe and planted a light, soft kiss on his lips. “Forever, Doctor.” He nodded quietly. “Why?” she asked, “is this not what you want?”

“There’s nothing I want more than to be linked to you, Rose Tyler," he said softly, running his knuckles down her cheek. "I’ve wanted you with me since I told you about the turn of the Earth, I’ve wanted you with me forever since the first time you told me I wasn’t alone after Platform One. But I suspect the media will pay more attention to you after this, and I just don’t want you to be bullied by photographers because of me.”

Rose shrugged. “I’m not that fussed, to be honest.” He set his jaw and she tugged on his arm, looking up at him and starting down the stairs in front of them. “Doctor, you need to understand and really, really get it in your mind where it won't fly away, okay? I love you. I want you and I want to be with you. I’ll take whatever comes with that, whether it be aliens or paparazzi - or both. Alright? Truth be told, I'm probably staring down a life full of both anyway, and God knows I would much rather have you beside me. Understand?”

He smiled down at her. “Quite right.” The Doctor got the the foyer, and Timothy opened the door for them. “Right. Let’s tell the world, then, Rose Tyler.”

~*~O~*~

Rose had heard him when he said he may have to kill a man, but she hadn’t expected to see the Oncoming Storm in his eyes so often - or all night, really. Thankfully, he’d maintained a manner that was outwardly polite for the most part, and Rose thanked heavens for Donna’s influence at this moment because heavens knew that her leather-clad Doctor and rude-and-not-ginger Doctor had never done as well with jealousy as her Doctor was tonight. Still, though, knowing him better than anyone in the universe, she could sense the hostility rolling off of him in waves towards every gentleman who attempted to make her acquaintance that evening. It was subtle and probably undetectible to anyone but her, but it was there. She finally dragged him out to the dance floor, intending to talk to him about it.

Once there, though, she forgot what she meant to say. He pulled her closer than was likely considered decent, staking his claim as he had once done so very long ago with Jack during the Blitz, and they began to dance. It was not a dance that anyone in the room was familiar with - they had learned it on the planet Chagant at the wedding of the chieftain's son - but the steps matched the music and it was elegant enough, so they ignored the people throwing them funny looks and let themselves enjoy the secret dance they shared.

“You are the most beautiful woman here, Rose," he crooned. "You’re the most beautiful woman on this planet. In this universe. In _any_ universe.”

Her lip curled when she looked up at him. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Doctor Noble.”

He groaned and pulled her a fraction of an inch closer. “Oh, how I wish. But not until we’re not at your parent’s.”

Rose harrumphed a little. “I still don’t see why not.”

“I don’t fancy your parents walking in on us starkers, Rose. But more than that, it’s a matter of respect.” He was using _that voice_ and Rose refrained from rolling her eyes with great difficulty. "Your parents opened their home to me. It would be..."

“I know your reasons, Doctor, but they’re so old-fashioned.”

He peered down at her. “Rose, I am nine hundred and seven years old. That’s quite old enough to be a bit outdated, don’t you think?”

“Your age is actually an interesting topic, up for some debate. You’re nine hundred and seven mentally, but legally you’re thirty-four. Technically, though, you're only a month old…”

“Alright, clever girl,” he said, and she giggled. “I see your point, but mine still stands.”

Rose sighed. “It’s just been so long, Doctor. Years. I miss waking up next to you. Desperately miss that.”

“As do I. It’s been the same amount of time for me, my love.”

“Well, either we need to go on a holiday soon - a series of holidays - or get our own place.”

He blinked in surprise. “Our own place? As in a flat?”

“Yes.”

The Doctor laughed merrily, then stopped abruptly when he realized she wasn’t laughing along with him. “You’re actually serious?”

“Quite.”

“Our own flat?”

Rose cocked a brow. “Are you playing mockingbird, Doctor?”

“No, no. I’m just surprised, is all.”

“I thought you didn’t surprise easily,” she said cheekily.

“Well,” he said with a lopsided grin, “you are Rose Tyler, and you’re always an exception. I become all sorts of topsy-turvy when it comes to you. But back to the subject at hand - you want to move in together?”

“Yes. I rather miss living with you, Doctor.”

He considered that for a moment. “I don’t know that your parents will like that.”

“Sod my parents. I’m twenty-six years old, I don’t need their permission.”

“It still throws me off that this world is a couple of years ahead of our old universe.”

“Yes, I’m actually only twenty-four, or maybe twenty-three - I’ve lost count - but the same principle applies,” she said stubbornly.

The Doctor laughed delightedly, and cameras snapped at the happy couple on the dance floor.

“So you want the two of us to share a home?” he asked, then his voice took on a serious note. “Rose, do you know what a huge commitment that is?”

She shook her head. He was so exasperating sometimes. “Doctor, I’ve been prepared to - hoping to - spend forever with you since I was 19. I jumped across universes to be with you again. I’m not afraid of doors and carpets, but if you are, we can wait. This isn’t a challenge or a demand, it's not a test of our relationship or your love for me, it’s an invitation.” Rose said, looking into his eyes earnestly. “I don’t care what we do. I just want to be with you, as wholly as I can be.”

She felt the Doctor's chest swell, or maybe it was that he pulled her closer. Either way, there was less of a distance between them, and his hand tightened on hers pleasantly. He didn't say anything for a while, he just looked around the room, nodding at a couple of people he recognized, then looked back at her suddenly. “Alright, then. Let’s do it. But you’re the one who’s telling your parents.”

Rose beamed. “Deal.”

“Would it be terribly improper of me to seal our deal with a kiss?”

“That depends,” Rose said, eyeing him warily. “Would you be snogging me because you want to, or would be you snogging me to send a message to every other bloke here that I’m yours?”

“Is it so wrong that a kiss would serve both purposes?”

“Doctor…” she said in a mock warning tone.

“Wait a moment...are you telling me I haven’t communicated that you’re mine effectively enough already?”

“Doctor…" 

“Very well, I shall redouble my efforts.”

“Doctor!”

“What?” He blinked innocently from behind his spectacles.

“Not one bloke here has done anything inappropriate, yet you’ve looked at all of them the same way you looked at Captain Jack when we met him.”

His brow furrowed at the memory. “Well, you remember how Jack looked at you.”

“Jack turned out to be one of our most loyal friends, he died to protect us." Rose tamped down the stab of loss at the knowledge she'd never see her friend again. "Plus, these blokes aren’t doing that.”

“They are, I tell you,” he said petulantly. “If I weren’t here, they’d be getting...handsy.”

Rose laughed and tugged at his neck, pulling him down to her kissing him lightly. “I love you, my Doctor. You daftie.”


	2. Fatherly Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete wants to know if the rumors he's heard about Rose and the Doctor moving in together are true.

The Doctor was hunched over a gelatinous mass in one of the many Torchwood labs, several doctors in lab coats huddled on the other side of the table watching him closely. He hunched farther over the gooey pile in front of him, poking the metal pan it was sitting in and humming to himself.

“Non-solvent for the lighter Earth metals, that rules out just about everything in the Clipato galaxy - abrasive, that one is.” The Doctor picked it up bare-handed and dropped it into a glass beaker, watching it for a moment. The lab coats across the table cringed and the Doctor’s eyes flicked up for the briefest of seconds. “Right. Don’t tell Rose I did that,” he said offhandedly.

He watched it for a second longer and the glass turned green. “Ah, lovely. That narrows it down a bit.” He picked the mass up again, still bare-handed, and dropped it into a plastic petri dish. Goop sloshed over one side and the alarmed-looking doctors in lab coats on the opposite side jumped back.

The plastic turned red, bubbled and dissolved.

“Oh, that’s _lovely_ , that is! Just _beautiful_ , I love it,” The Doctor cooed happily.

The other scientists looked at each other, but only half of them looked confused anymore. The rest just looked amused: the last several weeks had taught them much about this Doctor John Noble.

“Electricity!” the Doctor exclaimed suddenly, standing and looking around wildly. “Need to excite the protons, potentially cause a separation…” he muttered to himself. He was ripping apart a cord, pulling the plug off with his teeth. He spit it out and looked back across the table at the other scientists, nearly all of whom were staring at him with wide eyes. “Er, right,” he said in a more normal tone. “Don’t tell Rose I did that, either.”

“But Doctor,” the oldest man in a lab coat said, stepping forward slowly and speaking in a low, easy tone that was reminiscent of the voice one might use to negotiate a hostage’s release. “When you split atoms...that’s how you create nuclear explosions…”

“So it is,” Doctor replied without looking up, yanking more length of cord towards him to give himself a little slack.

“But Doctor,” the older doctor replied as the others around him backed away slowly. “A nuclear explosion would destroy London and kill us all.”

The Doctor looked up, alarm, annoyance and confusion showing on his face. “Who’s creating a bomb? Are you creating a bomb? I’ll not be party to any weapons creation, Dr. Wallace.”

“Well, it seems you -”

“Me?” the Doctor challenged, affronted, poking himself in the chest with the hand that held the live wire. “Did I say so? No, I’m not creating a bomb, sir. I’m exciting the electrons, hoping to get them to break off. Atoms and molecules and matter in general are very, very different across the universe.” He bent back to his work, looking at the mass carefully. “And it so happens that if you just happen to know how to excite just the right form of matter, you can discern the exact point of origin that particular matter came from, its age, its content, and its makeup.” He began poking at the mass, ostensibly looking for the right spot to put the wire. “And as it happens, gentlemen, I am very, very clever.” The Doctor’s voice became quieter, dissolving into a distracted mutter as his concentration increased. “Brilliant, in fact.”

There were no gentlemen left, only Dr. Wallace, the lone brave soul who had dared speak to him in the beginning. He tried one last time. “But Doctor…how do you know that this is the correct form of matter?”

“I don’t,” The Doctor threw out nonchalantly. “But as I said, I’m brilliant, so I’m going to guess anyway.”

He jabbed the wire into the lump and it exploded forward with a popping sound like a kernel of popcorn, spewing goo all over Dr. Wallace and the men gathered behind him.

“Aha!” The Doctor cried happily. “I knew it! Now, let’s see here…” He leaned forward, examining closely, adjusting his specs. “By the by, boys, I assume it goes without saying that we don’t tell Rose about this?”

“Of course not, Doctor,” said Dr. Wallace, sounding defeated, pulling a handkerchief from the pocket inside his lab coat and wiping his glasses.

The Doctor scrunched up his nose and leaned far down, close to the specimen and took a deep sniff. “Smells like grape soda...no.” Another sniff. “No... It can’t be!” He sniffed again, looking down at the goo which had turned cerulean blue. “Yes! Are you really? I don’t believe it!” He dipped his finger into the blue mess and touched it to his tongue. “It is!”

“Doctor!”

“Pete!” The Doctor stood up, beaming, wiping his hand on his labcoat. “Biological matter from the Moon of Flage! Come and have a look! Wonderful place, Flage, and its moons are just lovely.”

“Did you just _taste_ that?” Pete said, shocked.

The Doctor tugged his ear. “Completely harmless, of course…”

“Rose will have your head.”

The Doctor’s shoulders slumped. “Oh go on, Pete. Have a heart. She threatened me with bodily harm last time!”

Pete stifled a grin with a mighty effort. “Quite right.” He turned to the goop-covered doctors in the lab and nodded. “Wallace, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us, The - Doctor Noble is needed in Linguistics.”

“Thank you boys, always a pleasure. Sorry ‘bout the mess, I would avoid bleach on those stains, though...doesn’t react well with the biological matter,” The Doctor said breezily, walking to Pete with his hands in his pockets. “And that’s the Moon of Flage by the way, F-L-A-G-E.”

~*~O~*~

Pete and The Doctor walked along the corridor amiably, in a comfortable silence. Linguistics was on the opposite side of the campus and they typically chatted if one or the other were in the mood. The Doctor was usually content to drift along in the currents of his own thoughts if not.

Pete wanted to talk today, though. The Doctor could sense the heavy weight on the other man's mind and had a fairly good idea of what was coming. He just waited. 

Rose's father cleared his throat and began. “So, Doctor, Jacks tells me that Rose has been dropping hints about the two of you getting a flat.”

“Oh yeah?” The Doctor said, sounding only mildly interested.

“”Is that something that the two of you are planning on?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Soon?”

“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’.

“Well, I’m sure you can see where Jackie and I would find that of interest,” Pete said irritably. “You weren’t going to tell us?”

“‘Course we were,” Doctor said, walking heel-to-toe, unconcerned. “Rose wanted to tell her mother first.” He looked around at the signs that directed them towards the different departments of Torchwood. “It would seem…” he craned his neck. “It would seem that she lost her nerve to follow through with the hints and actually _tell_ you two of the intention to move out and get a flat." He turned his head and looked around in another direction. "You know what you lot need? You need carts or segways or something. Really. Bicycles, even. This is quite ludicrous.”

Pete ignored him. “But...why?”

“Well, the campus is thirteen square kilometres, is that right? It's quite a walk - golf carts! That'd work-”

“No, I mean why are you two moving away?”

“Well…” The Doctor said, shoving his hands in his pockets, “we’re both adults, and we want a life together. We could do with a bit more - privacy.”

“She has that place to herself in the rear property, what could she possibly w- oh." Pete fell silent for a few minutes; the silence was no longer comfortable.

“Pete, I want you to know that my intentions towards your daughter are totally honorable. I promised Jackie long ago that I’d do my best to keep her safe and I give you the same oath. I swear to do my best to take care of her forever.”

Pete’s head turned to look at The Doctor, who caught his gaze for a moment before ducking his head to look at the ground, hands jammed in pockets. He looked back up at Pete after a moment and said, “Someday, in a few years maybe, I’d like to marry Rose. I’ll officially ask your blessing when that time comes. A lot of it will be up to her. I just wanted to make my intentions known to you for now. I love your daughter and only want to keep her happy and safe forever.”

“Have you ever been married, Doctor?”

“I’m a widower.”

“Does Rose know that?”

“I’ve never gone into explicit detail with her and won't with you, either, but she knows. There are parts of my past that are - she understands that there are things I can’t talk about. The loss of my family is one of them.”

"You had a family?"

"Children and grandchildren," the Doctor said without preamble. Pete looked shocked, perhaps taken aback that this man, so young-looking, could have had grandchildren.

“What about your real name? Does she know that?”

“No one alive knows my name. No one in this universe, anyway. It’s part of being a Time Lord. We are called the names we choose to be, and the names we are given are kept secret. I chose 'the Doctor'.” Pete eyed him suspiciously. “There is great power in a name.”

Pete nodded, and they continued in silence for a bit, still uncomfortable. Pete broke the quiet after a few minutes when words burst forth, seeming to surprise him as much as they did The Doctor. “So let me get this straight. Your intention is to marry my daughter when she’s ready?”

“After we both settle into life on this planet together and we both decide we’re ready. If I had my choice it would be sooner rather than later; God knows we’ve both waited for each other long enough, but we both have some adjusting to do.”

"But for now, you and she want to share a flat."

"Yes."

"Isn't that...I don't know..."

The Doctor looked at Pete, a little amusement quirking at his lips. "You know, Rose accused me of being old-fashioned, and I defended myself by saying I was nine hundred and four. I don't think you'll have the same excuse." Pete huffed a laugh as they pushed through a pair of glass doors. "And even if both of us are being old-fashioned, Rose and I have been married on myriad planets for several years. Just not on your planet. Nor are we married on the other Earth, for that matter, so I doubt that Rose counts it..."

"She's my _daughter_ , Doctor," Pete said imploringly.

"Is she?" the Doctor asked, his gaze piercing, then immediately backed down, knowing exactly how Rose would react to _that_. He sighed, putting his hands back in his pockets. "I know that you consider her your daughter, that you caught her when she was falling into the void and took her in and believe me, Pete, I will never be able to express my gratitude adequately for that. She would be lost to all of us forever if you hadn't risked everything to come save her. I can never thank you enough. But in her timeline, in her reality, you died before she had any kind of awareness and she never had any kind of father until she was twenty-one. She heard the stories her mother told about the other you, and she met you and watched you die twice when she was nineteen because of a stupid mistake I made. You never had any kind of daughter here, either, until we met you the night of the cybermen. 

"So as much as you love her and accept her - and I don't doubt for a second that you do - please don't try to tell me that you are closer to Rose than I am. The type of love that each of us feel for Rose can't compare to each other. I don't deny your love for her and will never try to come between the two of you, and ask the same courtesy. Please don't try to play that as your trump card. I love Rose more than you will ever know, more than I can ever express."

Pete opened his mouth to protest and the Doctor cut him off, continuing, "Besides that, she's twenty-four years old and more of an adult than I am most of the time. Rose is fully capable of making decisions for herself, she knows her own mind better than anyone I've ever known. She's incredibly clever - the most clever human I've ever known - and much more clever than almost any other being I've ever known in nearly a millennium. Jackie did an incredible job raising her, Pete, and you have much to be proud of in your wife and daughter."

Pete nodded and they started walking again, both men with their hands jammed in their pockets, watching their steps before the Doctor spoke up, the words just seeming to bubble to the surface, unbidden. "Also, sharing a flat won't be our first experience with domestics. I'm sure you know by now that we lived together on the Tardis for quite a while before I lost her - before she came here."

"I'm aware," Pete huffed. "I just need you to understand, Doctor...Rose was broken when she came through to this world, when she lost you. She's happier now than I've ever seen her. Frankly, I've never seen her like this, and like you've said I've not been around, but Jacks has said that she's back to her old self. She said that this is the kind of happiness Rose had when the two of you were travelling together before..." The Doctor smiled at that, couldn't help it. The knowledge that he was making Rose happy made him feel warm and he wished he could hold her right that moment, just to tell her how happy _she_ made _him_. 

"I just..." Pete heaved a sigh and looked straight ahead without seeing, walking automatically. "I can't stand the thought of her hurting like that again. It was hell watching her suffer like she did before she started working on the cannon. I don't want her to lose you and go through that pain again."

"She's not going to," the Doctor said firmly. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving. I wouldn't dream of it, even if I had the ability to. Not without Rose."

"You sent her away quick enough at Canary Wharf," Pete said, pressing the button on the lift.

"To keep her from getting sucked into the void, or killed by a Dalek," the Doctor snapped. "I never, _ever_ would have left Rose behind if I could help it. Losing her destroyed me. I'm never leaving her again, ever."

“Right.”

"Quite right," the Doctor said flatly as they stepped out of the lift. "She's been the most precious thing in the universe to me since I met her, almost literally. I jeopardized her more times than I ever wanted to. Now I have the chance to keep her safe and with me for as long as we both live. I'm taking it, grabbing it with both hands."

They walked in silence for a ways while both men processed what had been said. They came to a T-intersection and Pete made a gesture indicating they should turn left. The Doctor followed suit without a sound. Pete took a few steps, then cleared his throat another time. His voice was much more placating when he said, “And I’m sure I know the answer to this, but I want to make quite sure, I hope you’ll understand. This Donna...you got her a job here, she visits you and Rose, Rose has suggested that she babysit Tony..."

“Donna was my best mate in the other universe when Rose came back, flew around in the Tardis with me after Rose... left. She was the only thing that made Rose being gone bearable, her friendship was. Donna made me laugh again." He smiled fondly. "Rose had always had a knack for saying what I needed to hear right when I needed to hear it, for telling me 'no' when I needed to be reigned in. Donna had the same knack. She was a comfort to me, we rubbed along together very well, but there was nothing between us but friendship." The Doctor chuckled a little, recalling the banter the two of them engaged in frequently which almost always ended in Donna derisively but affectionately calling him spaceman. 

He snapped back to attention and continued, "Rose found this version of Donna when she was searching for me, and introduced me just after I got here in July. This Donna and I became fast friends: she's quite a lot like the Donna I knew. She and Rose are just as chummy as we are.” He looked at Pete seriously. “Everything is on the up-and-up, Pete. Rose is my world. Donna is my best mate.”

“Right, that makes sense,” he said. Then Pete cleared his throat. “Well, if I can get back to my original point... it has come to my attention that you and Rose are both due a raise. Long overdue, I’d say, for Rose, and your worth has far exceeded anyone’s expectation.”

“Pete…” The Doctor said haltingly, suspicious of the other man’s motivations for the raise, “we don’t need any additional money, we’re fine.”

“Rubbish. It’s either this or we buy your flat for you.”

The Doctor took a deep breath as his suspicions were confirmed. There wasn't any way, though, that he could imagine Rose going along with her parents buying their home, he knew just how independent she was. "Really, Pete. We're quite content -"

"Doctor, Jackie is already looking at houses near ours so that you don't have to move again for many years."

The Doctor swallowed and nodded. “In that case, thank you very much. I’m sure Rose will also be delighted to hear of her raise as well.”

“Excellent. We must make sure that the two of you get into the best possible flat, after all, if it’s to be your starter home.”


	3. Moving In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose move into their new flat, but Rose is concerned that he's not happy.

The last few weeks had been incredibly long and short at the same time. Once Pete put a stop to Jackie’s wailing and attempts to stop her baby leaving the nest, she insisted on hiring the best realtor in London to help The Doctor and Rose find a superb flat. The two of them had already been on the hunt on their own, but Rose had to admit (quietly and to herself) that with an expert realtor on the case, things had gone much more smoothly and easily. 

It hadn’t taken them a week to find a place both of them liked; despite the fact neither of them were used to posh conditions and opulence they were both used to having plenty of room, so the flat they found with two stories, large, airy open areas and cosy bedrooms was ideal. You could fit five of the flat Rose had grown up in on each floor, and she was a little gobsmacked at her step up in the world. Rose wondered what the Doctor was thinking, but he was tightlipped about his thoughts when it came to buying carpets and doors.

Once they had settled on the place and the paperwork was being worked up, Jackie had called a decorator to come to the flat and “work her magic”. Rose had to admit (she was getting tired of being forced to admit things to herself, frankly), the decorator had taken all of her input to heart and the place looked quite nice. Her kitchen was decorated with bright colors, her den in muted teal, brown and dark red. She’d set one bedroom up as a library for The Doctor and it lacked only a fireplace and the exact books to be a miniature near-replica of his library on the Tardis. Their bedroom was decorated in an attractive mix of yellows and greys, throw pillows decorating the bed. The Doctor grumbled that he had no idea why anyone would possibly need that many pillows, he was able to make do quite well with one pillow and Rose, but he hushed with a pointed look from Rose.

He’d not been around much; the first time the decorator said the words ‘color palette’ his eyes had glazed over and when she pulled out a book of paint samples he’d pulled out his phone to text Pete, begging for salvation. When the phone rang five minutes later and it was 'work' ringing with 'desperate emergency' no one was fooled, but no one stopped him, either.

But now, here it was. Their little home. The fire burned merrily in the fireplace of the den, the scent of the fire the mantle not quite drowning out the smell of new furniture and fresh paint. She wandered from room to room, looking in wonder at this home that she shared with the Doctor, her Doctor, and marvelled that the man who had grabbed her hand and yelled for her to run all those years ago was now sharing her home and bed, from here until forever. She never would have believed it was possible, but she was overwhelmed that he had taken this step with her. 

Rose went to the mantle and traced her hand along the edge, looking at the photos as she passed by. She and her mum when she was a teenager, so many years ago at the Powell Estate. Herself with Tony and her parents. She and the Doctor, the night of the fundraiser. The fundraiser that she’d worn the red dress he’d liked so much. Rose ran her fingers down the frame of the photo, then down The Doctor in the photo lovingly. Photos of her with her first Doctor, one with he and Jack. She and the Doctor before they went to 1953, wearing their fifties' best. She smiled softly at the picture of the two of them snuggled on Jackie's couch at the Estates. The Doctor had his arms around her and she'd laid her head on his shoulder. 

Scenes from her life, her wonderful life that was made possible by the Doctor. Happy, captured in a picture frame. 

Rose Tyler had accepted as a teenager that she would grow up, become a shop girl of some sort, work her way up to assistant manager (or maybe manager if she was lucky), and get an apartment close to her mum’s at the Powell estate. She’d have a string of boyfriends, possibly husbands, and maybe a couple of kids. That was to be her life. It was the hand she'd been dealt. The dreams of being an astronaut or Prime Minister or doctor or reporter - they’d all died with the stark realization that she was destined to grow up and be her mother. She had tried to make the best of it.

Then the Doctor grabbed her hand, yelled ‘run’, and changed everything forever. She had a family that loved her. She had money she’d never dreamed of. She’d been to every stretch of the universe, and would be back out there in a couple of years. And now she was living with the love of her life in the most posh flat she’d ever set foot in.

Everything beyond her wildest dreams was coming true, and she had her Doctor to thank for it.

She could have thanked him, would have thanked him, if he had been there.

~*~O~*~

Rose found him on the rooftop, where she’d known he’d be. The evening air held a chill and she’d brought his jacket, the leather bomber jacket he’d bought on the first full day he’d been in London with her. She remembered the day, she remembered the jumbled feelings she’d felt. The feeling of knowing who he was but having difficulties accepting. It had been just over three months ago, it was only the middle of October. That had been the beginning of July. It was still soon enough, the memory was still raw.

He was leaning back in a chair, and he’d known she’d come - he’d brought a matching chair and set it up right beside him. He didn’t bother to look up when the roof access door closed. He just continued to lie back in the lounger, looking up at the sky.

“The city lights block most of it out,” he said quietly, and Rose knew his mood at once. He sounded wistful, longing, just as she’d suspected he might be. She’d hoped he wouldn’t. The slightly sad note in his voice broke her heart.

“I never knew there were so many stars in the sky until I took off with you,” she said. “We’re planting the Tardis soon, Doctor. We’ll be back up there again in no time.”

“Hmm.” A noncommittal noise, and she left that alone.

“I brought your coat,” she tried a different tack. “You’ll catch your death out here with the temperature dropping.”

He sniffed and made no move to take the coat, so she folded it in her lap as she sat down beside him. Rose looked up at the stars for a while, watching wispy clouds backlit by the moon slip and slide across a mostly clear, black sky. The stars that were visible were dim, and her heart ached for her Doctor.

She tried to put herself in his shoes, to remember how she’d stared up at the sky and wept bitter tears, the loss of him agonizing and unbearable, the loss of the freedom she’d enjoyed with him staggering her. Rose had known, in her mind, that he wasn’t in her sky. He was on the other side of the void, in another dimension - but the dark side of her mind and heart that didn't mind rubbing salt in her wound tried to convince her that every shooting star she saw was really him. She’d be disappointed when the whooshing noise she knew deep in her soul didn’t come, then the bitter tears would start again, unbidden.

Rose remembered the pain and torment of being stranded, the feeling of loss, and tried to imagine The Doctor’s feelings. She tried not to be hurt because of his misery. She told herself She tried to leave it alone, to allow him the space and time to grieve that she was certain he needed.

She failed.

“Doctor?”

“Mmm?”

“Are you happy?” she asked uncertainly.

“‘Course I am.” His voice was confident, but he didn't look away from the inky sky.

“I mean it, Doctor. Please don’t try to preserve my feelings. Please just be honest.”

“I am,” he said, turning his head on his arm where it rested to look at her, and she saw genuine surprise there. “”Why’d you think I’d lie?”

Rose hesitated. “I don't think you would lie to me, Doctor. It's just... you just seem so....so morose. Like you miss it so much.”

“Well, yeah,” he said, looking back up at the sky. “Don’t you?”

“Of course, but -”

“I spent almost a thousand years flying around the cosmos. Now I’m here. We signed a lease. John Noble and Rose Tyler.” He heaved a deep breath. “I’m not unhappy, Rose. I’m with you, and it’s all I wanted. All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of. Just to be with you. It’s just...this isn't how I expected it’d be.”

“Is it so terrible?”

“No, love, not a’tall. Just an adjustment in my thinking I’m working on. Me being a little wistful for the old bachelor days.” He spun his head again and cocked an eyebrow and a grin at her, but Rose huffed, throwing her coat at him, standing suddenly.

“Well if you’re so intent on getting your bloody bachelor days back -”

“Oi! Come here, Rose!” He leapt up, grabbing her wrist and spinning her to him. “What’s this about?”

“Oh, shut up, Doctor.” She wiped her eyes angrily and tried to push him away.

“Oi, now, that’s not nice Rose Tyler. Come on now, tell me what I did. Out with it.”

“Bachelor days, Doctor?” she said scathingly.

“Oh for fuck's sake,” he fairly growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t you ‘oh for fuck's sake’ me. You knew bloody well that would hurt. The thought that you're missing the time when you didn't have me...”

"Is that what I said?" he demanded. 

"You said-"

"No. No it is _not_ what I said. I wouldn't ever want to go back to the days that you weren't with me, and you'll never hear me say otherwise." He narrowed his eyes at her and she sniffed, wiping at her eyes hurriedly. 

He sighed, defeated as always by her tears. “Oh Rose,” he said seriously, pulling her chin up to look at him then wiping her eyes with his thumb. “I was a miserable sack of shit when I met you. You know that. I didn't care if I lived or died, and would have preferred the latter most of the time. Now, I may still be a sack of shit sometimes, but I’m no longer miserable. _You_ fixed that. _You_ , Rose Tyler.” He smiled down at her. “Do you honestly think I would ever want to go back to flying around in that box without you?”

“But you -”

“But I what? I love you. I love you more than I could ever express by word or deed. That’s what.”

Quietly, she said, “but you seem so miserable.”

“I tell you, I’m not.” His voice was showing hints of frustration, but Rose was heedless.

Her own heat began to rise. “You should have seen yourself just now, Doctor. Shakespeare could have written tragedies based on the longing and sadness in your eyes. The look on your face spoke volumes.”

“Am I not to miss my old life, Rose?” he asked testily.

“No,” she answered just as testily, “because I miss that life, too. I just want you to be happy in _this_ life. This life with me. I don’t want the longing for _that_ life to interfere with our happiness here.”

The Doctor let go walked away from her, and she wondered if she'd pushed him too far. He fairly prowled a few steps, then turned to his right and walked a few steps before deciding he didn’t like where he’d ended up and spinning on his heel to walk the opposite away. He paced like this for a few minutes, dragging his hands through his hair periodically and tugging his ear, his jaw set, while Rose watched him.

He didn't look up or break his stride when he asked, “I’m very clever, yeah? You’ve known me a long while and you think I’m quite clever, right?”

“You’re the most brilliant man I’ve ever known.”

He spun around to face her, gesticulating emphatically with his arms. “ _I’ve got no idea what I’m doing, Rose._ ”

She was taken aback by the vehemence of his statement and just watched him as he began to pace the roof of their building again, the fine gravel crunching under his trainers. “I’ve got no clue. _None_. Everything is all jumbled up inside my head.” He smacked his forehead a couple of times. “And I _hate_ that feeling, Rose. I _loathe_ it. This is not the life I was born into, nor the life I chose for myself when I took the Tardis. But I chose to be with you, I mad a conscious decision that I wanted to be with you as long as I could, long before the void. I had no idea that it would lead to this, I thought we’d always have the freedom to fly away, anywhere and anywhen we wanted to go. I thought that I could always whisk you anywhere in the universe. Anywhere, Rose.”

She’d seen him angry countless times before, she'd seen him frustrated, annoyed, puzzled - every sort of emotion when trying to work out something that he couldn’t seem to get a handle on. But this - this felt different somehow. His speech was pressured, his movements more tense. His hair was quite wild. 

“I never intended for us to be marooned on Pete’s World for years before we could leave," he continued. "I didn't really believe...”

Rose watched him, her heart breaking. He seemed so lost and so sad, so confused and alone. She wanted to let him know that she was here, but was wary of approaching him at the moment. “I’m sorry, Doctor, I never…”

“Oh, God, I’ve scared you, haven’t I?” He stopped his pacing and looked at her helplessly. His tone had shifted, dropped somehow and Rose shook her head to reassure him. He scrubbed his face with his hands. “But don’t you see, Rose?” He rushed to her and took her hands in his. “I didn’t mean to be here and I don't have any idea what I’m doing. I’m mucking up everything everywhere. I’m ruining our first night together in our new home, aren’t I?” 

"S'not ruined, Doctor. You're just unhappy and I get that."

He sighed. “But that’s the thing, Rose. I’m not unhappy. I miss having all of time and space at my disposal, but I’d trade it all, all of it, if it means I get to have you. Even if that means we’re here, marooned on this planet, in this flat. That's perfectly fine with me. I'm thrilled to be stuck here, as long as you're with me. I love it all, I really do. I love you, Rose. I love you and will stay here with you in this flat or your parents' house or in a cardboard box until this one heart I’ve got gives out on me.”

She nodded and he wiped the tear that had slipped down onto her cheek away. “Just because I miss what we _had_ doesn’t mean I don’t love what we _have_. It’s just an adjustment, is all. Alright Rose?”

She nodded.

“I need you to remember something, Rose.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Couple of things, really,” he said. “First, I am blissfully happy to be stuck here on this rock with you. Rapturously, fantastically happy. There is nothing in any world anywhere or at any time that could make me happier than being with you. Alright?” She nodded, and he continued.

“And the second thing I need you to remember; I am more than likely going to fuck everything up over and over because for all my cleverness, when it comes to you, Rose Tyler, I am a daft old idiot.”

She laughed. “You’re happy and a daft old idiot. Got it. Anything else?”

“Yes, there was one more thing.”

“Go on, then.”

“I love you, Rose Tyler.”

She beamed at him. “I love you, too.”

“Quite right, too.” He said, then enveloped her in a hug. "I'm so sorry I upset you, Rose. It's the last thing I want to do."

"I just didn't understand, is all."

The Doctor stepped back from her, looking into her eyes. Rose tilted her chin, making her lips available for a kiss, and he didn't disappoint. His mouth, so much warmer than it had been before, covered hers and he threaded his fingers through her hair to hold her to him. His lips moved over hers and she parted them, allowing him to deepen the kiss, inviting him to take what he wanted. Making herself open, letting him know that she was completely his. He darted his tongue in then pulled it back to nibble on her lip.

"Right," he said against her mouth, then pressed one more quick kiss to her lips before stepping back, leaving her swaying just a little in her place. “Come on, then.” He grabbed his coat in one hand and tugged her along towards the roof access door.

She stumbled the first couple of steps before she demanded, “where are we going?”

“Home,” he said simply, as if she should have known. “It occurs to me that we have quite a lot of new furniture to christen.”


	4. The Interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete wants Rose and the Doctor to give an interview amidst media interest in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how some chapters have to be drug out of you, and some you just sit down and _bam!_ , there it is?
> 
> This was the latter. So much fun to write.
> 
> I have no idea if there is such a thing as People and Places magazine. if there is, I apologize.
> 
> The picture described in the photo shoot scene is based on [this beautiful manip](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/49/41/ee/4941eeb2726459acec359569ef0568cd.jpg)...it's probably my favorite Ten/Rose manip ever. I just love it and had to include it. 
> 
> However, I don't know who made it so I can't give proper credit...even worse, I only found it again yesterday (with the help of allegoricalrose), so this has been here for two days without _any_ credit at all. For that I am sorry, and if you are the creator please let me know so that I can laud you for your brilliant work. :)

Rose sat down behind her desk at Torchwood and kicked off her shoes. Bloody heels were nothing short of a torture device, she was sure. But in her little office and behind her desk, she didn’t have to subject herself to that kind of misery. She slipped her feet out and wiggled her toes under her desk, sighing appreciatively. 

The phone on her desk rang, and Rose scooped it up in one fluid motion. “Rose Tyler.”

“Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi, Dad. What’s up?”

“I’m sending Beth Pritchett over to you. She should be there in less than ten minutes.”

Rose looked at the clock on her computer - it was quarter to eleven. “Okay, who is Beth Pritchett and why am I meeting with her?”

“Beth is the PR director of Vitex.”

“Uh-huh. I see. And, again, why am I meeting with her?”

“She’s going to talk to you about you and the Doctor.”

Rose’s head straightened up. “Why is my love life any of her business?”

“That’s what she’s going to talk to you about.” Rose narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I have to go. We’ll talk more about it after you talk to Beth. She knows my thoughts and feelings.”

“Dad-”

“Talk soon, Rose.” He rung off, and Rose scowled slightly at the empty receiver in her hand.

~*~O~*~

She’d slipped the cursed heels back on, knowing that she was about to have a visitor, and she was glad she hadn’t waited until the ten minutes was up when a pert brunette popped her head into Rose’s door.

“Ms. Tyler?” she said pleasantly. When Rose looked up at her, she smiled brightly. “Of course you are. Look just like your Dad.”

Rose stood behind her desk and straightened her skirt automatically before approaching the kind-faced lady. “You must be Ms. Pritchett.”

“Oh please,” she said with a warm smile. “Call me Beth, Ms. Tyler.”

Rose smiled back. “Only if you call me ‘Rose’.”

Beth nodded, still smiling. “Deal.”

“Would you like to sit down?” Rose extended her arm behind her, indicating her desk in front of two chairs or a small couch.

“That would be lovely, thanks,” Beth said, then followed Rose inside and took a seat across from her at the desk. 

“Well, Beth,” Rose said, flattening her skirt again and crossing her legs behind her desk. “My dad said this had something to do with the Do- with Dr. Noble and myself?”

“Yes ma’am,” Beth said cheerfully. Rose was pretty sure that she should be annoyed with the woman, apprehension about what she wanted to talk about was high. Beth was disarmingly kind, however, and Rose had a hard time being afraid of her. This was the kind of woman Rose would enjoy being friends with, she thought.

“You see, since you and Dr. Noble made your debut as a couple a few weeks ago, media interest in the two of you has been skyrocketing.”

Rose nodded slowly. “Yes, I’ve noticed more paparazzi, including a pair of blokes that camp outside of our new home.”

“I’m being bombarded with calls about the two of you, people are clamoring for an interview.”

Rose sighed. “And you want us to give it to them.”

Beth winced sympathetically. “I think it would be best, yes.” Rose leaned her head back against the chair she sat in. “There are multiple reputable magazines interested and offering a lot of money -”

“Hold that thought, Beth. I wouldn’t dare even discuss this without the Doctor.” She reached over to her desk phone and dialed his extension. It rang twice, then the Doctor’s voice came on the line.

“John Noble.”

“Doctor?”

“Rose Tyler! My sunshine, my heart, my love! What can I do for you?”

Rose blushed a little at his exuberance. “I need you to come up to my office if you have a minute.”

“For you, sweetheart, I’ll make time.” Rose avoided looking at the smiling Beth. “What’s on the agenda? Lunch?”

“No, just have something to discuss with you. Then maybe lunch.”

“Discuss with me, eh?” Rose could hear the phone shuffling and knew he was taking off his labcoat. “Then lunch? What, pray tell, would you like to eat, Ms. Tyler? I’ve got some nibbles for you, if you’d-”

“Doctor,” Rose interrupted, blushing furiously. “There is someone here I would like you to meet with, and we are on _speakerphone._ ”

The other side of the line was quiet, and Beth brought her fist up to her mouth to stifle her laugh.

The Doctor’s voice was much more serious when he answered. “Be right there.”

Rose pushed a button on the phone and buried her face in her hands. “Please don’t tell my father about that.”

Beth finally chuckled. “Ah, the exuberance of new love.”

“Well, that’s the thing, actually,” she said. “We’re not exactly a new couple.”

~*~O~*~

Rose had expected the Doctor to be hesitant about a magazine article and photo spread of the two of them, and was surprised when he only had a couple of questions before he turned around to her and said “Let’s do it.”

“What?”

“I think we should do it?”

“Well…” he tugged his ear. “I just do.”

Rose grabbed his hand and tugged him to his feet. “Will you pardon us for a moment, Beth?” The Doctor sighed but followed her into Rose’s loo.

Rose closed the door. “Okay. Spill.”

“There’s nothing to spill. I think we should do it. Maybe people will leave us alone, then.”

“You know they won’t.”

“No, you’re right. They won’t. But Rose...a million pounds!”

“Since when do you care about money?”

“I’m don’t, not really. We’re quite comfortable. I think we should have them give the money to charity.”

Rose just looked at him, agape. “You what?” she asked after a while. 

“Charity,” he said. “I think we should pick a charity and give them the money.”

Rose considered this for a few minutes, then capitulated. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s say we do that. Where does the money go? Better yet, what do we tell them?”

“Well, I imagine they’ll ask us questions, and we’ll answer them.”

Rose snorted. “Oh, so you’re thinking we should tell them you’re the clone of my alien boyfriend from another universe?”

“Oi!”

“Can you think of another way of putting it?”

“Yeah. In a minute. I’m still nursing the sting of being called a clone of your boyfriend.”

Rose put her face in her hands and grumbled. “You know what I mean, Doctor.”

“I know exactly what you meant. Doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

Rose sighed again. “I’m sorry, Doctor.”

“So what do we tell them, then?”

A knock sounded on the door behind them, and Rose jumped a bit. Beth stuck her head into Rose’s bathroom, where they stood talking.

“If I may interrupt, I just wanted to let you know that if it makes a difference, your father has had me sign a confidentiality agreement, and told me the real story behind the two of you?”

“Oh?” the Doctor quirked a brow. “What story is that?”

“That the two of you knew each other before, in another world.”

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, then back at her. “We can’t print that, even if people are more accepting of the paranormal here.”

“No,” Beth said patiently. “That’s one reason that I’m here.”

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other again. She hadn’t mentioned anything about the metacrisis or another universe, but it was enough to be getting on with.

“Right then,” Rose said. “Let’s come up with a story.”

~*~O~*~

They had selected _People and Places_ magazine for their interview. The Doctor had been nervous about slipping up and saying something he shouldn’t, but the interviewer had been given very clear parameters about what she could and could not ask, and Beth sat beside them ready to intervene if necessary. 

It went well, surprisingly enough to the Doctor. The questions were all quite general and almost all of them were set in the present. It was over nearly before it began. The following day found them in a photoshoot. 

The photographer took some photos of them at home, directing them a little to do ‘domestic’ things. The Doctor caught Rose’s look when he said that, and the two of them smirked. A few hours later found them in a field near London, dancing together and looking into each other’s eyes lovingly. 

“Hey, want to give my mum a heart attack?” Rose asked quietly.

“Not particularly, but what do you have in mind?”

“Catch me.”

Rose put her arms around his neck and jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed and heard the rapid clicking of the camera, now familiar to both of them. 

“Now,” Rose said, beaming at him. “Dance with me, Doctor.”

“You sure?” he asked as he secured his arm around her waist. “I don’t think those pictures would be very suitable for a magazine cover.”

She giggled. The Doctor kissed her soundly then took her hand as if to lead her in a dance and swirled around the field, laughing and dancing with his Rose.

~*~O~*~

_At first glance, Rose Tyler and John Noble look like any other couple on the London social circuit. Young, beautiful, intelligent, and clearly besotted with each other, the debutante and the doctor make a lovely pair._

_But there is more to this couple than meets the eye. Quite often, people expect society couples to be unstable; they believe the young women to be flighty and capricious, the men who love them to have a wandering eye, perhaps. But it’s clear after spending only a few minutes with Rose and John that that stereotype couldn’t be farther from the truth when it comes to the two of them._

_”John and I met several years ago. He asked me to go travelling with him and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. Besides,” Rose says and looks at the adoring face of her boyfriend, “I knew there was something special about him, even then.”_

_John agrees, saying, “There was something about Rose. I can’t explain it. She’s magnetic, people are just drawn to her, and I was no exception. I’ll never understand why she loves me back.”_

_The two did not act on their mutual attraction for quite a while, they say. When asked if the age difference between them had played a part in that (John is nine years older), they both agree that it did, at first. “I was so much older than she,” John says, “and I didn’t want her to be tied down to an old curmudgeon when she could have anyone she wanted.”_

_Rose smiles brightly. “It took him a while to realize that he was all I wanted - all I would ever want.”_

_At this point, the interview paused for a moment while the two kissed. It was not to be the last time._

_*_

_One gets the sense that the blonde beauty and her tall, tousle-haired scientist take a great amount of joy in each other. Their laughs are easy and unprompted and Rose and John play off of each other very well. You get the sense that if left to their own devices, the two of them would undoubtedly sink into their own little world and not look back. Their comfort with each other - beyond the romantic - is obvious in word and deed._

_“He’s my best friend,” Rose says simply when asked about their obvious rapport. “There’s nothing he doesn’t know about me, and he loves me anyway.”_

_“I don’t know how you manage to go through a bottle of shampoo in two weeks,” John offers teasingly, his tongue touching the back of his teeth._

_“Not everyone can be as naturally beautiful as you, Doctor.”_

_Snog break._

_It is another odd quirk that she calls him ‘doctor’ sometimes, and when asked about it John shrugs. “When we traveled, it seemed that often as not we’d end up helping people out. It was important for them to know that I was a doctor, but ‘Dr. John Noble’ can be intimidating. The language barrier became a problem quite often. So we just went with ‘Doctor’: it’s easy to say, and quite a lot of people already associate the word with healing and hope. That’s what we wanted to convey, so it seemed like the best option.”_

_And what of Rose, I ask. Did she get a name?_

_“Well,” she says, “I’m not a doctor.”_

_John interjects: “Beyond that, though, is the fact that her name symbolizes one of the most beautiful things on Earth. S’fitting for her.”_

_Another snog break._

_When asked about people’s reception to the Vitex heiress dating what, by everyone else’s standards seems to be a regular bloke, Rose simply shrugs. “Most people have been supportive,” she says. “But if they’re not, it’s not like we’re going to stop loving each other because of what someone else thinks.” She smiles, then continues. “If we can get over my mum’s disapproval, then we can do anything.”_

_I prompt her to go on: all photos that show Jackie Tyler in the presence of John Noble show a pair of people with a warm regard for each other._

_“Oh, she loves him _now_ ,” Rose clarifies. “But she wasn’t too keen on her daughter running around with an older bloke in the beginning, even if John was a doctor.”_

_“She slapped me!” John says with mock indignance, rubbing his cheek. This earns him a giggle and a kiss to the once-wounded area. “But no, Jackie and I are quite fond of each other now. It took a while and we certainly butted heads, but eventually we respected each other, then came to care for each other, and now I don’t think I could love her anymore if she was my own mum.”_

_“You just like her banana muffins.” Rose smiles, and she pokes her tongue out to corner of her mouth. It’s an affectation she only seems to have around John._

_“Bananas are good!” he declares in response, as if everyone should know this._

_I ask the two about plans for the future, and John tugs his ear. “Well, it’s hard to predict the future. You can’t know which route someone’s life is going to take - there are a lot of variables.”_

_“I think she’s being more general, Doctor. I think she’s asking whether or not we think we’ll be together in a few years,” Rose says shrewdly._

_“Oh! Well in that case, I say that there is a lot that lies in store for the two of us. We can’t know for sure. No one is guaranteed the next day, and we’ve learned that the hard way. But if anyone has a chance, we do.”_

_“That’s true,” Rose volunteers. “Just like we always have, we’ll stare down whatever comes our way together. What we have, it goes beyond love. We don’t just love each other, we cherish each other. We’re committed to one another.”_

_“Devoted, utterly devoted,” John volunteers._

_“That’s right,” Rose agrees. “We’re dedicated to surviving whatever gets thrown at us, just as we always have.”_

_“We’ve come through a lot,” John says when I remark on their seeming solidity. “We’ve endured much more than most other couples. Separation, illness, the loss of loved ones, near-death experiences; very few people go into those things as a couple - particularly a couple that’s just starting out - and come through the other side together.”_

_Rose nods solemnly. “Yes, we’ve had more than our fair share of calamity. It’s seemed rather often that the universe was doing everything it it’s power to tear us apart. But we’ve endured,” she says, looking over at John’s nod and soft smile. “We’re the Stuff of Legends, after all.”_

_John’s smile at that would light up a dark room. “That we are, love. That we are.”_

_And the interview ends on a snog break._


	5. A Wheeled Tardis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor decides he needs a car, prompting a little introspection from Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little chapter. I'm trying to prep them for the idea of domestics. Like, real domestics. Gotta put a toe in the water first, though.
> 
> In hindsight, I probably should have put this before the moving-in-together, but it's done now. :D

“Rose, I think I need a car.”

The statement took her by surprise and she spit out the toothpaste she’d been brushing with, rinsing her mouth as he came to rest against the sink, sipping his coffee and looking at her. She looked up at him in surprise as she wiped her mouth against the towel.

“Why?”

“Well, isn’t that what people do? They get a flat and a car?”

Rose hung the towel on the ring and turned to look at him dead-on, ignoring his answer. “No, I’m asking why you want a car, Doctor.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Well,” he said, dragging out the word. “I’m not even sure I want a car. Maybe an SUV. Oh! Or a truck!” Rose narrowed her eyes at him, and he went on. “As for _why_ I want a car - or any vehicle, really, there are several reasons. For starters, you’re not always around so I can borrow your car. What if you’ve swanned off and I need to get somewhere? You’re still prone to that, you know. All these years I’ve known you and you still wander off. Troublesome, you are.”

Rose ignored him again. “You’re always welcome to the cars in the Torchwood car pool.”

“But those cars are boring,” he near-whinged.

“Ah, I see.” Realization dawned. Rose crossed her arms and leaned against the sink, smirking. “You want something you can practice your jiggery-pokery on.”

He looked at her over the rim of his mug, saying nothing at first. “I didn’t say that. Did I say that?”

She tried to look stern and failed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips but failing to hide her smile. “You do! You want a car you can mess about with!”

“Well,” he dragged the word out again and shrugged in an exaggerated manner. “I did come first in jiggery-pokery, as you know. If I were to... _enhance_ the car a bit, that wouldn’t be so terrible, would it?.”

“Yes it would be so terrible, Arthur Weasley!”

“Oi! That is completely inaccurate!” he protested to her back as she left the en suite. “ _Arthur Weasley is ginger!”_

~*~O~*~

Rose finally agreed to take him car shopping after he promised not to do anything dangerous to the car. He readily agreed and she amended quickly to include that “dangerous” encompassed her definition, not his. His agreement included grumbling that time.

She never got the chance to enjoy such a domestic event as car-buying before he found her at work and dragged her out to the car park excitedly, stopping her in front of a brand-new SUV in a pretty blue.

“I think this is the one, Rose. I really do. And it’s blue! Do you like it?”

"I thought we were going together after work?"

"I got impatient. Couldn't wait another minute."

_How very Doctorish,_ she thought. “It’s wonderful Doctor, but why an SUV?”

“Well, you never know when you’re going to have extra riders. What if Donna and Lee want to go somewhere with us?”

“That’s a fair point, I suppose, but they could ride in a car just as easily.”

“But what about tons of groceries?”

“Again, there’s plenty of room in a car.”

“But what about when we have Tony with us? It’s easier to get to a car seat in and out of an SUV.”

Her brows knitted in confusion. “We rarely have Tony with us, Doctor. We could make do with a car, that would be fine.”

He sighed in exasperation. “Well perhaps I just wanted an SUV?”

“Of course, I’m sorry for being contrary.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “It’s lovely. Take me for a spin in it?”

“It’ll have to be just a quick spin. I’m only on a test drive at the mo. Haven’t signed any papers for it yet.” He ducked his head. “I wanted to make sure you liked it before I committed.”

“I rather like it, I think.”

He puffed with pride and opened the car door for her, closing it behind her and hopping in the driver’s seat to take her around the block.

“I’ll take you on a longer drive later, of course, if you think this is the one, but all the features this has! It has a five-star safety rating - it’s like driving a tank, Rose! And there’s plenty of room for Tony AND Donna and Lee AND groceries if we wanted to load it down! Plenty of room! Yet it’s still fairly compact, it’s not a bus! Almost like it’s bigger on the inside! What’d’you think, Rose? Like it?”

His tone was so excited and hopeful. She wondered a bit at this Doctor, who seemed to be taking joy in what would have been utterly repulsive to him before. She certainly wasn’t complaining, but she had to ask. “Doctor? Are you alright with this?”

“Well, I’d prefer a darker interior, but I’ll adapt. It's got a touchscreen and rear backup camera. That'll be handy for you.”

“Not that, Doctor. It’s just very...domestic.”

“You’re not going to let that go, are you?” His tone had changed. He wasn’t angry or upset, he seemed more...disappointed. Sad. “Rose, I didn’t want domestics because I thought I was the only one left, and I didn’t deserve to live. Surely you noticed that as time went on, the domestics of you and I bothered me less and less.”

She nodded. “I did notice that.”

“I’m still guilty for what I did, I’ll never forgive myself, no matter how long we live. That guilt will always gnaw at me. And I don’t deserve you. But bringing you on board all those years ago created an automatic domestic situation and I knew it. And I wanted that. I want you and I want this. I want this car. Heated seats, Rose!”

It was his way of ending the conversation and she knew it. She was pushing the issue and she knew that as well. His reassurances were getting a little more firm, and she hated to belabor the point. But she dreaded the possibility of him settling into something and realizing it made him miserable. The fear couldn’t be pushed away, not completely. She was still afraid that the wanderlust would grip the old nomad and he’d be gone. It kept her awake some nights, watching him sleep and praying that he’d never get the itchy feet and run away without her again. She prayed that more than she’d like to admit, actually. She felt compelled to know that he was sure, that he wouldn't leave. She'd lost him and it nearly killed her. She couldn't live through that again.

“You don’t like the heated seats, Rose?”

She shook her head absently. “Sorry. I was just...woolgathering, I suppose.”

“Look, Rose, I know that I was such a boor that you need reassurances. I don’t fault you for that, that blame is on me. But I’m not unhappy, okay? I’m actually quite happy. I love you and I love this car! I think I’ll buy it. What do you think?”

Rose smiled. The conversation was over now, and she vowed with herself not to bring it up unless she was afraid he was going to do a runner. She was reassured by and amused with his enthusiasm; she’d learn to love it, she told him. “I still don’t know why you wanted such a large vehicle, but I do love it very much.”

“Family trips, Rose! We can make Family trips sometime!”

Her head spun around to him, eyeing him carefully, but he didn’t seem to notice what he had said - or at least notice it in the same way she had. She wondered if he was saying it to underline his point about domestics being what he wanted now. Did he think she wanted a family? Did she want a family? The idea of the two of them sharing a home was still so new and surprising she hadn’t thought much about it.

Did she want a family with the Doctor? Did _he_ want one with _her?_

The Doctor pulled back into the same parking spot he’d been in before and stopped the car, pulling the brake, smiling happily.

“It’s a beautiful blue.”

“I thought it could be our little Tardis until the big one is ready. Taking us on adventures. Shiver and Shake and four-wheel-drive. A wheeled Tardis! Ha!.”

“Its perfect.” She leaned across and kissed him quickly. “I have to get back to work. You do too, actually.”

“See you tonight. Dinner is my treat.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. And I’m driving!”


	6. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor bestows some fatherly advice to a young Tony just before they go trick-or-treating. Jackie remarks upon it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is ten pounds of fluff in a five pound bag.
> 
> There may not be an update until later _next_ week. I'm in the throes of preparing for NCComicon and got a couple of orders I need to fill, so I'm a bit swamped until after Sunday.
> 
> Thank you to Pete's World and back for reading!

“Rose, I do appreciate this,” Jackie said, running around the kitchen frantically. “And you, Doctor.”

“It’s no problem at all, Jacks,” The Doctor said from the kitchen table where he sat watching Rose struggle with Tony’s teddy bear costume. “Is it, Rose?”

“S’no trouble for you, eh?” Rose complained, tongue between her teeth. “But this zipper is being a right pain in the-”

“Oi!” The Doctor and Jackie said together.

Rose raised her head and looked at both of them, her eyes settling on her mother. “Are you actually going to lecture me about language? You? I’ve heard words from you that would curl a nun’s hair.”

“Well, you were m’first,” Jackie said defensively. “I know better now, don’t I?”

Rose swivelled her head to The Doctor. “Et tu, Brute?”

He had the grace to look sheepish, and tugged his ear. “Well, you know. He’s got little ears developing, a developing brain, hero worship, all that.”

Rose snorted. “Hero worship.” She went back to the zipper, tugging uselessly, grunting twice then growling.

“Don’t growl, Rose m’love, Tony’s supposed to be the bear, not you.”

“Very cute. Hand me the sonic.” She held out her hand expectantly and Doctor reached into the pocket of his leather coat.

“Oh no you don’t. Don’t you dare.” Jackie came dashing over to try and snatch it from him, but he pulled his arm back just in time. 

“Oi!” the Doctor cried.

“The hell, Mum!”

“Oi!” This from both of them.

“Oooh…” Rose dissolved into a flurry of unintelligible grumbles and The Doctor chuckled, screwdriver held aloft behind his head.

“Gimme that,” Jackie demanded.

“Never.”

“Well you’re not using it on my baby.”

“I use it on your baby all the time!”

Rose and Jackie spoke at the same time, but The Doctor couldn’t make out Rose’s words over Jackie’s proclamation of how sick and disgusting he was. 

“Oh for… Not like that, Jackie.” The Doctor looked thoroughly put out and embarrassed, staring down a fuming Jackie and Rose used the opportunity to slip the screwdriver from his hand unnoticed.

“The sonic heals minor injuries. I’ve used it on Rose to heal her multiple times. Loads of times.”

Jackie’s jaw was set and he raised his hands. “Nothing untowards, Jackie. Honest. It’s harmless to humans. I’d never hurt Rose or Tony, you should know that by now. You really should.”

Jackie’s expression was softening until she noticed The Doctor’s arm raised in the air, his hand empty of the sonic at the same time Rose said “gotcha!” and unzipped Tony’s costume, zipping it up and down several times victoriously, looking at her mother in triumph. 

“Oooh,” Jackie fumed, “You two will be the death of me, you will!” She turned and stomped from the kitchen, still looking for Tony’s ears.

“Doctor, you fought real nuns, didn’t you?” Tony asked. “Cat nuns.”

“Well, we didn’t fight them, me and your sister. We more...disagreed with them.”

“You fought, then.”

“In a manner of speaking, Tony, but I want you to understand this.” He tugged the boy over even though Rose wasn’t quite done and had to follow Tony to stand behind him.

“Clever people use their words to solve problems. They fight with their mind, their brain. When you put your hands on someone to fight them, you’re admitting that you’re not clever enough to work out your problem with words.”

“Don’t you think he’s a bit young to be learning that lesson, Doctor?” Jackie asked.

“Not a’tall, Jackie, the younger you start teaching him, the better it’ll sink in.”

“I am clever, Doctor?”

“That you are, Tony.” The Doctor ruffled the preschooler’s hair. “Quite clever. Take after me, I suppose.”

Rose smirked at The Doctor as she zipped Tony up one final, definitive time and eased him out in front of her. “There you are, mister bear, and may I say that you are quite the most handsome bear I have ever seen?”

“I not handsome,” Tony said petulantly, turning around. “I scary. Ain’t I, Doctor?”

“Indeed you are, old man. Indeed you are.” The Doctor agreed seriously. “But tell me, you’re not going to hurt anyone, are you?”

“No, I just scary to keep bad monsters away.”

“And are you going to stay with Rose and myself when we go to Donna’s house and walk around her neighborhood?”

“Yessir.”

“And you won’t talk to anyone unless me or The Doctor or Donna are with you, right, Tony?” Rose asked him.

“Right.”

“And don’t be afraid if people take your picture, alright? They’re friendly, even if they’re a little loud sometimes.” The Doctor whispered conspiratorially to Tony. "They used to scare me, but I wasn't a bear. I was just plain old Doctor, but you're brave, yeah? So you shouldn't be afraid at all."

“Nope!” Jackie sighed heavily when he popped the 'p'.

“But if you _do_ get scared, tell me or Rose or Donna. Don’t be a bear at them, remember what we said about being clever? Don't try to scare them back, we're not going to let anything happen to you. Just let one of us handle it, alright?”

“Okay. I mean, yessir.”

“Good lad.” The Doctor slapped his legs. “Rose, we are terribly lucky, and I’ll tell you why," he announced. "Because we have this very handsome - pardon me, Tony,” he inclined his head to Tony who beamed, “ _very scary_ bear here to keep away any monsters that try to take our candy on Donna’s street.” Doctor said, smiling at Tony. “We shall be quite safe, indeed, with such a brave bear with us. Yes, we’re very, very lucky, Rose.”

“Found them!” Jackie exclaimed, running back into the kitchen with a pair of fuzzy ears on a headband raised over her head. “Finally found them. They were in the hall; heaven knows why when his costume was in his room.”

She handed them to Rose who squatted in front of Tony, telling him to hold still. Rose settled the headband on Tony’s head. “There, now you almost look like a proper bear.” She reached for the makeup crayon on the table and turned back to him. “Just a moment and we’ll complete the look.”

Tony took a step back. “No.”

“Tony…”

“No. Boys don’t wear that stuff.”

“Bears have black noses,” Jackie said reasonably.

“But boys don’t wear that stuff, Mummy. Daddy doesn’t.”

“Boys can wear it if they want, Tony,” Rose said, crayon still at the ready.

“And bears have black noses,” Jackie added. “Don’t you want to be a scary bear?”

“Here,” The Doctor said, snatching the crayon from Rose and sitting back down. He covered his nose while Tony watched. “See, Tony? I’m wearing it. We could be the same if you put it on, too.”

Tony blinked at him for a moment. “You’re a boy, though.”

“Quite right.”

“Okay.” He turned to face Rose, who caught the crayon The Doctor tossed her. She caught it somehow while gaping at him and colored Tony’s nose hastily.

“There. All done.”

“I’m like The Doctor now?”

Rose smiled while Jackie groaned a little. “Aren’t you just?”

Jackie watched, propped against the counter with her arms crossed. "You'd make a good mum and dad." The Doctor sputtered into his tea.

"Don't, Mum," Rose said without looking up from her nose decoration.

"Well you would," Jackie insisted. "Tony is never so excited as when he knows you lot are coming over. Keeps asking if you can spend the night again or he spend the night with you. I'm just sayin' is all."

"Don't say it," Rose said firmly and tried not to notice the way the Doctor was looking at her. "We've only just found each other a few months ago, we only just moved in together a month ago, and we've never discussed it, to boot."

"Maybe you should," Jackie said obstinately.

“Come on!” Tony said, tugging both of them to their feet, The Doctor grabbing the candy bucket just in time. “Let’s go to Donna’s!”

“Wait!” Jackie stopped them. “I want to take pictures!”

She corralled the three of them to the front of the house, having Rose and The Doctor squat down beside the Jack o’ Lantern with Tony between them, three bright smiles and two black noses. 

“Now you three get back when you possibly can - you’ve already got your costumes here, right? Good. And Donna and Lee are coming, too? Good. Oh, bless, he’s so cute.” She bent to give Tony noisy kisses, earning a giggle for her efforts. “Mummy loves you, Tony, have fun trick-or-treating. Rose, Doctor,” she kissed each of them on a cheek, “Thank you for doing this. I’m swamped with this party tonight. I’ll see you three in a couple of hours.” She kissed Rose again. Love you. Give my love to Donna.” She patted Doctor on the cheek then turned to walk back into the house.

The Doctor started the car while Rose buckled Tony into his seat, then slid into her own seat up front. He put the car into gear and turned into the long driveway leading down to the road.

"The SUV was a good idea, yeah? Tony's car seat has been buckled in for a week, and we've not taken him anywhere until tonight."

Rose sighed, falsely irritated. "Yes, Doctor. You were right."

"That I was," the Doctor replied smugly. “Oi, Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“I got a kiss, did you see?”

She grinned at him. “I did! Only took nearly six years or so for her to come around.”

“I knew I could win her heart,” The Doctor said, turning into the main road towards Donna’s house. Rose answered with a snort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys tell me... Halloween party or no? If I skip it, we're going straight to Christmas and planting the Tardis. Majority rules. :)


	7. Cardiff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose begin to grow their TARDIS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know I promised a Halloween party chapter, but that just wasn't happening for some reason. I can't understand why, but I couldn't make it happen. 
> 
> I'm writing in the DWSecretSanta, and the story I'm writing for my recipient is shaping up to be much lengthier than I had originally thought. It's also for someone REALLY awesome whom I admire a great deal, and I feel the overwhelming urge to make the fic I'm writing for her as close to perfect as possible. 
> 
> To that end, this fic is probably going to idle for the next few weeks. _I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS FIC._ I honestly have at least fifteen chapters written for this universe (not all in this story, some in two new stories), but I don't have time to type them up and edit them while I'm writing the Secret Santa fic. 
> 
> So stick with me! I promise there's more to come around/just after the holidays!
> 
> Until then, though, have some fluff. :D

It was the second week of December when the Doctor and Rose made their way to Wales, searching for the time rift. Christmas decorations were up everywhere with fairy lights strung in almost every window, making the night twinkle merrily and managing to soothe the Doctor at the same time. 

Rose explained in the car on the way to Cardiff that in the city that they had saved several times in the other universe, there was no Vitex plant. In this Cardiff on Pete’s World, Vitex was a big part of the local economy. The Doctor had spent a fair amount of time in the other Cardiff, so it was a bit jarring to see one that he was accustomed to but with such striking differences - but it was nothing that he couldn’t adapt to, and quickly. But they were both relieved to be taking a day to themselves in Wales and get out of London; even though it had been months since the Doctor had arrived, the media attention had died down only a little and it got a bit wearing after a while.

None of that mattered at all, as long as there was a time rift and the Doctor could get to it.

There was, and he could.

It had taken him much longer than he had expected to gather and build what he needed to grow a new TARDIS here on Pete’s World. He’d expected Torchwood to have more of the materials on hand but it had taken two more salvage operations in October and then three weeks ago for him to be able to nick the remaining parts he needed. Pete was well aware of what he was doing and why he needed the parts, but nobody else at Torchwood was. The knowledge that Dr. Noble was building a time-and-space machine would have created much more of a ruckus than any of them wanted to deal with. 

When he finally had everything together, he’d locked himself in his lab for four days until Rose picked the lock and forced him to come home and sleep, reminding him that he was human now and couldn’t just go without sleep for days and if he did, he’d likely mess up the whole thing. The Doctor had complained bitterly until he slept for eighteen hours, went back to the lab and realized he’d made mistakes that could blow up the TARDIS within a year. He’d apologized to Rose profusely (and amorously, much against Torchwood policy) when he figured that out.

Finally, twelve days before Christmas, it was ready. 

Rose and the Doctor told Jackie and Tony they were going shopping for a few days and told Pete where they were actually going. He called ahead to Cardiff, to the Torchwood office there, to let them know that there may be some activity in the area. The Doctor had been quite disappointed to find that there was no Jack Harkness at the Cardiff Torchwood branch. He’d have sacrificed a kiss and dance with Rose gladly to have his old friend back. But there wasn’t, so Doctor shook it off and he and Rose left town.

It took him very little time to find the rift; it was right where the other had been. He’d never explored the other rift very much and had no idea how far it extended, so he crossed his fingers and asked Rose to do the same when they set out with their instruments outside of the city limits, looking for a quieter place to set up. They found a wooded place by a river that seemed to be ideal; the rift was giving off a good bit of energy there and it was as secluded as they could hope to find, so Rose and The Doctor set about constructing the shed-like building that would serve as the TARDIS’ nursery for the next several years.

Rose smiled to herself as The Doctor worked; it was almost like being back on the TARDIS itself. He bounced around with manic energy, talking excitedly, throwing her a direction every now and again. Rose complied, laughing delightedly when he would sing a little and swing her by the waist as he passed, dropping a quick kiss on her forehead.

The building was finally constructed - a silver, septigonical box taller than either of them. The Doctor stood back, hands on hips, smiling broadly. “Well now. There she is. Our TARDIS will grow right out of there.”

“Looks a bit conspicuous, don’t you think?”

“Oi!” he said reproachfully. “Have you no faith?” He grinned mischievously, said, “M’’not done yet,” and bounced off towards the structure they’d just built.

He stepped inside and Rose peeked behind him, watching curiously. The Doctor sat the bit of TARDIS that the Other Doctor had given him on a stand in the middle of the empty space and, switching to a setting on the sonic screwdriver, scanned it with blue light. He stepped out and closed up the building, locking it with the sonic. “Now then! Let’s just… Rose, would you hand me the remote from my bag? No, not that, the other one.”

Rose dug around until she found the large remote that looked like a radio control car remote with lots of buttons and levers, handing it to The Doctor. “Excellent!” he cried. “Now, we’ll put a handy little proximity alarm on it…”

“Proximity alarm?”

“Yes, if anyone gets close to it, I’ll be notified. But nobody should even see it, it’s going to look like…” The Doctor turned a knob and a large evergreen tree appeared, spreading its branches wide. “Perception filter, Rose!” he said excitedly.

“Brilliant!” she clapped, and he beamed.

“I am rather clever, aren’t I?”

“I tend to think so.”

The Doctor stood back, admiring his handiwork and Rose went to him, slipping her arms about his waist, nuzzling into him. “Just think, Rose. In a few years, we can be sailing amongst the stars again. Me and you.”

“Can’t wait.”

He looked down at her, tenderness in his eyes when he smiled. Tugging her close and kissing her quickly, he said, “I can wait, if the waiting’s with you.”

~*~O~*~

They’d told everyone they were going shopping, and Doctor figured they might as well put a little truth to the lie while they were there.

Rose had left the gift-giving for Pete up to The Doctor, who assured her that he was going to craft something really fun for Pete. The man who had everything, so a trip to the store wouldn’t yield anything impressive, and all Pete had asked for was a dressing gown and socks. (The Doctor already had a satsuma set aside to put in the pocket of the dressing gown, just for fun.) Rose appeared to have second thoughts when he’d told her he was going to make something for her dad, but Doctor told her not to worry - he’d make sure whatever it is couldn’t possibly be lethal to anyone. Rose grudgingly agreed.

The two of them had a wonderful time shopping for Tony. The Doctor insisted on playing with every toy they considered for him, making Rose laugh when he decided which were worthy and which were not based on how much fun he had with them. Rose accused him of only choosing the toys that he, himself, wanted to play with and he didn’t deny this accusation, only grinned at her like a little boy and asked if Tony were too young for legos just yet. When Rose said that he likely was, Doctor picked up four sets of preschooler-sized building blocks and put them into the buggy saying that he was going to teach Tony the fundamentals of construction before dashing off to the aisle with superheroes.

Rose had rarely seen this side of her Doctor before, and she reveled in it. He had taken to Tony right away, and Tony had imprinted on him like a baby duckling, toddling along after him as soon the Doctor squatted down and asked his name. The two were fast friends, much to Jackie’s exasperation although - and she’d rather die than admit this - the sight of Doctor and Tony playing cars in the floor of the entry hall filled her with warmth.

It filled Rose with an unexpected longing. She’d thought about children in passing before, but never seriously. She still didn’t take it incredibly seriously...they had just started growing a TARDIS, right? They weren’t going to have a baby. They _couldn’t_ get pregnant, even if they tried. Could they? She didn’t even know if he could _get_ her pregnant. There might be too much Time Lord left in him. Still...they had a home now. They had everything people needed before their thoughts turned to family, usually.

“No,” she said aloud, shaking her head against the thought.

“Aww,” he pouted. “You don’t like it?” He’d put on an Iron Man mask and gloves and she could tell, even without seeing his face, that he was pouting behind it.

She laughed. “No, I wasn’t talking to you, just woolgathering. You look brilliant. I’m sure Tony will love it.”

“Brilliant!” He stripped it off and threw it into the cart.

“Don’t you think that’s enough?”

“No.”

“He really doesn’t need all of this, Doctor.”

“Such utter nonsense. Everyone needs scads of superheroes.”

“He has other people giving him gifts as well, Doctor.”

“You’re such a spoilsport, Rose.”

“You’re a kid, Doctor, s’what you are.”

He gave her a lopsided grin and loped off down towards the books. “The boy needs books! Can never have too many books. And an iPad! Then I’ll stop, I promise!”

~*~O~*~

They sat in a chippy an hour later with bags circling around their feet and occupying the chairs next to them, pulling chips from the same basket, arguing over who got the crispy ones when Rose sprung it on him. He’d known it was coming, but it still brought him up short.

“Doctor?”

“No, you can’t have this one. It’s mine.”

“When were you a dad?”

He just stared at her for a minute, not even chewing the fry he’d just put in his mouth right away, then chewing slowly. Rose watched him patiently, trying not to stare. The Doctor didn’t look at Rose at all, instead scanned the room around him as if looking for a place to run. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his forehead roughly, chewing and swallowing.

“Rose…”

“Doctor, whatever it is I’m going to love you, I swear.”

“It’s not that.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it…”

“I don’t like to think about it, Rose.”

“Okay. Just forget it.”

“No...I’ve known for a long, long time that I should have told you more - Dammit, Rose, do you know how much I’ve been dreading this?” He ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, then brought them down harshly, staring at them while his eyes cleared. “Alright. You deserve to know. But do we have to talk about it after this?”

“No.”

“Alright.” He heaved a deep breath then rubbed his hand through his hair and looked at her intently. “You know about what I did before I met you. How I ended the Last Great Time War.”

“Yes.”

“I killed all the Daleks, but I also destroyed Gallifrey.”

“Yes.”

“I had a family. A wife, children, grandchildren. That family was on Gallifrey.” He took a deep breath and looked anywhere but at her when he went on, “I had run away a long time ago. It’s likely they all hated me desperately. I was a rubbish father and an even worse husband. Family...familial relations were much different for Time Lords. My marriage was arranged, my children were loomed. It was all almost...clinical. Very little emotion involved.”

“Doctor -”

He didn’t let her finish, he just went on in a burst. “But I was a rubbish father, even by Gallifreyan standards. I did what I had to and no more. And then I ran away as soon as I could. They were probably all grateful, actually, when Susan and I left. We were the renegades of the family.”

“Susan?”

 

“My granddaughter. She was the first person to travel with me. Everyone else stayed behind.”

Rose was silent and he looked away, afraid to see the condemnation in her eyes. They were both silent for a long while, until she finally said, quietly, “Doctor,”

“I didn’t have a choice, Rose. I didn’t see any other way…”

“Doctor…”

“I didn’t want to.” He rubbed his forehead and his voice was scratchy. He ground his fingers across the skin above his eyebrows, making wrinkles then smoothing them out. “It was the same as when we were on the Cruc-”

“Doctor!” she said, more insistently.

He looked up at her then, afraid.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“It _was_ , Rose.”

“You saved the universe. The people who blame you are wrong, Doctor. You talk about timelines and cause-and-effect, but think about what would have happened if you hadn’t done that? The entire universe would have perished.”

“But my _family_ , Rose. My children, my grandchildren…”

“Would be proud that you saved the universe. Twice. They’d be proud of what a hero you were, Doctor.” He stared at her, unbelievingly. “Nobody’s ever told you that, have they? All you’ve ever heard is taunts from your enemies and your own tortured mind.”

He shook his head. “You’re a hero, Doctor. A _hero_. And anyone who doesn’t see that is a fool. Including you.”

He smiled weakly and squeezed the hand that had had covered his. “Still love me?” he asked after a few minutes.

“Always, my Doctor.”

He nodded. “Can we leave this alone now?”

“I promise - unless you start going on about what a sin you committed. Then I get to remind you what good you did.”

He winced but said nothing to that. Just squeezed her hand and asked her if she was finished.

“Right, yes. I’m done. Can we make one last stop? I know what I want to get Mum.”

“Whatever you want, love.”

~*~O~*~

Rose explained on the way to the shop, as they walked hand-in-hand through all the fairy lights and garland and baubled trees, what she wanted to get for her mother. Her mum liked jewelry but had never had much money for nice, expensive pieces, so she wanted to have a charm bracelet made; a bracelet made of a precious metal with a charm for special milestones of her life. She’d buy a gemstone charm for each of their family’s birthday, a baby charm each for her and Tony with their birth dates inscribed on it, a wedding charm with Jackie and Pete’s wedding date on it, and another charm with the date she was reunited with her Dad. Even though it was one of the two worst days of Rose’s life, it was one of Jackie’s best and she could honor that for her mother.

They found a shop and went inside. Rose talked to the jeweller, laying out specifications and picking out which metal she thought her mum might like, choosing the right four stones and other charms to go on the bracelet, giving information to be inscribed on each one. The Doctor grew bored standing in one spot and began to wander.

He hadn’t gotten anything for Rose yet - nothing special anyway - and he browsed the glass cabinets, wondering what she might like. There were earrings; all sorts of earrings. Earrings that dangled, earrings that sat right against the ear, earrings with stones, earrings in every kind of metal, but none of those were any good. She wore her hoops all the time unless they were having a special occasion. 

There were necklaces and that was an intriguing idea, he knew that Rose liked necklaces, but what kind? There were so many to choose from, so many different styles, so many...dangly things hanging from chains. All different colors. 

Bracelets! He mentally threw up his hands and walked away from the case in frustration.

He turned his head to the ring case and hesitated. Rings. Egads, would you look at the sheer volume of rings? And the price of these things? Not that he couldn't afford it but all the same, he could fly to any number of planets and pick up three cases worth of these rocks for free. Or he could have done before. He heaved a sigh.

But here and now, on Pete’s World, these rocks were significant to humans as signs of commitment, the pledge to marry. He could - no, no he couldn’t. It was too soon. It wasn’t that his commitment wasn’t real, it most certainly was, it was just too soon - look at the conversation they’d had only a short while ago! 

_Besides that,_ he thought as he peered into the case, _would you look at all the variations of this? I’m going to need Donna. Donna will know what to do._

He ducked his head quickly, hoping that Rose hadn’t caught him and spun around to look at something else, anything else, going back to the blasted bracelets. _Well, now, this is rather interesting…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~It's worth noting that I've got a toothache and am going to have to have dental surgery soon. This chapter was written this past summer, but I edited it a couple of hours ago while under the influence of pain medication. So...be gentle on me. The mistakes are all mine and lortab's.
> 
> ~I would be willing to bet good money that as soon as I hit publish, I get hit with a Halloween party idea after worrying with it for two weeks and coming up with nothing. 
> 
> ~If you're reading _Healing_ , you may have noticed that there was a jewelry store scene in that fic as well. I wrote out the two chapters weeks apart in longhand, and the fact that they're being published in the same week is an absolute coincidence.


End file.
